India: Information on women's groups that operate in India, and whether there are any organizations that help women who have been victims of or threatened with rape or sexual abuse
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND14182 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Information on women's groups that operate in India, and whether there are any organizations that help women who have been victims of or threatened with rape or sexual abuse, 1 July 1993, IND14182, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aca53b.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The government of India operates 26 short-stay homes for battered women (Calman 1992, 138). However, these government homes are not able to accommodate women with children. In 1985 the government opened a shelter in Delhi for women with children (Ibid.). A year later, the Bombay YWCA also included space for women with children in new buildings the organization was constructing (Ibid.).
Some private organizations help, on a modest scale, women victims of domestic violence. These include the Bombay Women's Centre and the Delhi Saheli (Ibid., 139). The organizations counsel and give limited material help to abused victims (Ibid.). According to the source, volunteers help the women psychologically and financially in order that they might be independent of their families and the organizations.
The two above-mentioned organizations also help women file police reports, contact sympathetic lawyers and physicians, and find them jobs and housing. Since housing is a difficult problem, members of the organizations sometimes accommodate women in their homes (Ibid.). The two organizations also participate regularly in activities that publicize women's issues, and their goal is to move the government to undertake the necessary social and political changes that will empower the women of India (Ibid.). For information on women's organizations that operate in India, please see the attachment from Women's Movements of the World.
Additional and/or corroborative information on the requested subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.
Reference
Calman, Leslie J. 1992. Toward Empowerment Women and Movement Politics in India. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Attachments
Calman, Leslie J. 1992. Toward Empowerment Women and Movement Politics in India. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Shreir, Sally, ed. 1988. Women's Movements of the World. London: Longman Group UK Ltd.
